Roofing membrane puller

Abstract

A roofing membrane puller for tautly pulling a water-proof membrane over a flat roof, even to the edges thereof, includes a frame, at least one anchor which maintains the frame in a selected position on the flat roof, a locking gripper having releasably lockable jaws for gripping the membrane, a leveraged hand drive which is mounted to the frame and includes a lever which is pivotally mounted to the frame and can be grasped by an operator's hand to move the lever and apply a force to the lever in driving direction, and a pulley-cable system for transmitting a pulling force from the leveraged hand drive to the locking gripper to pull the membrane. A cable extends from the leveraged hand drive through at least one pulley where the cable's direction can be changed so that the cable and locking gripper can pull the membrane in a direction which is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the puller frame. This exit pulley may be connected to the front end of the frame through an extender which projects the exit pulley in a forward direction from the front end of the frame so that the exit pulley can be projected near to the edge of the roof by placing the puller near the edge of the roof with its longitudinal axis at a slight angle thereto.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A roofing membrane puller for tautly pulling a water-proof membrane over a flat roof, which comprises: (a) a frame including a front end, a rear end, and two sides;   (b) at least one anchor which maintains the frame in a selected position on the flat roof;   (c) a sheet gripper for gripping the membrane;   (d) a leveraged hand drive which is mounted to the frame and includes a lever which at a lower end is pivotably mounted to the frame and at another end is grasped by an operator's hand to move the lever and apply a force to the lever in a driving direction which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame;   (e) a pulley-cable system for transmitting a pulling force from the leveraged hand drive to the locking gripper to pull the membrane, the system including:   (i) an exit pulley which is in a connected relation to the frame near the front end thereof, the exit pulley defining a groove therearound and connected to be positionable so as to have at least one position in which a turning axis of the exit pulley is perpendicular to the roof;   (ii) a cable including a first end which is connected to the leveraged hand drive and a second end which is connected to the locking gripper, the cable extending from the leveraged hand drive in an initial direction which is generally opposite the driving direction of the lever to define an initial portion of the cable, the cable passing through at least a portion of the exit pulley groove to extend in a final direction to the locking gripper to define a final portion of the cable, the final direction being determined by selected relative positions of the exit pulley and the locking gripper; and   (f) an extender comprising a shaft connecting the exit pulley to the frame, at least a portion of the shaft extenable outwardly from the front end of the frame, the exit pulley being connected to the shaft at an outward end thereof, wherein the frame includes a forward vertical wall and an intermediate vertical wall, each being connected to the sides of the frame and having a hole therein for slidably and pivotably holding the shaft so that the exit pulley can be moved forwardly and rearwardly, and its turning axis pivoted, wherein the roofing membrane puller can be placed near the edge of the roof with the front end thereof directed obliquely toward the edge of the roof so that the extender projects the exit pulley nearly to the roof edge.   
     
     
       2. The roofing membrane puller of claim 1 wherein the forward vertical wall has a keyway above and adjoining the hole within the wall; wherein the extender further includes a first key which is connected to and extends longitudinally on the shaft from the pulley housing to a first keyless portion of the shaft, the first key including a rearward face and being cross-sectionally sized to enter and slide through the keyway as the shaft slides through the hole; wherein when the keyway has received the first key, the extender can slide between a retracted position where the pulley housing abuts against the forward wall with the exit pulley turning axis parallel to the roof, and a first extended position where the first key exits forward of the keyway and the hole receives the first keyless portion of the shaft; and wherein when the hole receives the first keyless portion of the shaft, the extender can pivot with the first key moving to either side of the hole and keyway so that rearward movement of the extender is prevented by the rearward face of the first key abutting against the forward vertical wall. 
     
     
       3. The roofing membrane puller of claim 2 further including two rests which each extend forwardly from the forward vertical wall at either lower side of the hole so that when the shaft is pivoted with a key moving to either side of the hole and when the key abuts against one of the rests, and the exit pulley turning axis is perpendicular to the flat roof so that the cable can exit from the pulley housing in a sideward direction. 
     
     
       4. The roofing membrane puller of claim 3 wherein the extender further includes at least one key which is connected to the shaft and extends longitudinally from one keyless portion of the shaft to another keyless portion of the shaft in axial alignment with the first key, the key including a forward face and a rearward face and being cross-sectionally sized to enter the keyway so that the shaft can be slid between the keyless portions of the shaft; wherein when the hole receives the keyless portion of the shaft adjacent to the forward face of the key, the extender can pivot sidewardly so that forward movement of the extender is prevented by the forward face of the key abutting against the forward vertical wall; and wherein when the hole receives the keyless portion of the shaft adjacent to the rearward face of the key, the extender can pivot sidewardly so that rearward movement of the extender is prevented by the rearward face of the key abutting against the forward vertical wall, and the key can abut against either rest. 
     
     
       5. The roofing membrane puller of claim 1 wherein the pulley cable system further includes an intermediate pulley to which the initial portion of the cable extends, the intermediate pulley being rotatably mounted to the frame and defining a groove around the pulley through which the cable passes to extend in an intermediate direction to the exit pulley to define an intermediate portion of the cable, the intermediate direction being generally parallel to the driving direction so that an operator can apply a pulling force to the cable by moving the lever in a direction generally toward the exit pulley. 
     
     
       6. The roofing membrane puller of claim 1 wherein the leveraged hand drive further includes a rod with a pivotal end which is pivotally mounted to the lever a selected distance above the lower end of the lever, and a slidable end which is slidably mounted to at least one side of the puller frame, the first end of the cable being connected to the rod near the slidable end thereof so that when the operator moves the lever in the driving direction, the rod pivotally slides in the driving direction, pulling the initial portion of the cable in the driving direction. 
     
     
       7. The roofing membrane puller of claim 6 wherein the leveraged drive mechanism further includes at least one wheel which is rotatably connected to the slidable end of the rod, and at least one side of the frame further includes a longitudinal guiderail on which the wheel rests and can roll to allow the slidable end of the rod to slide forwardly and rearwardly. 
     
     
       8. The roofing membrane puller of claim 7 wherein the sides of the frame which include a longitudinal guiderail each furthermore include a longitudinal guardrail in a vertical spaced relation to the guiderail and overlying the wheel in close proximity thereto to maintain the wheel on the guiderail, each guiderail and its paired guardrail together defining a slot in which the wheel rotatably moves forwardly and rearwardly. 
     
     
       9. The roofing membrane puller of claim 1 wherein at least one anchor comprises an outwardly extending leg which is connected in supportive relation to the frame, and a foot which is fixedly connected to the leg and includes serrated teeth for gripping the flat roof to thereby maintain the position of the puller frame. 
     
     
       10. The roofing membrane puller of claim 9 wherein the extending leg is connected to the rear end of the frame extending rearwardly therefrom and includes an upward surface on which a foot of the operator may be placed to hold the puller frame firmly in place on the roof. 
     
     
       11. The roofing membrane puller of claim 9 wherein the outwardly extending leg of at least one anchor is connected to a side of the frame near the front end thereof and extends sidewardly from the side of the frame.